Media and Merchandise

Gotta Have It! Figure Edition: FFVII’s Sephiroth Action Figure

This is where it all began. For the first time ever, faithful recreations of Tetsuya Nomura’s character illustrations have been modeled into high quality action figures, bringing the characters of the original FINAL FANTASY VII to life.

The arch villain from FINAL FANTASY VII. Once a 1st Class SOLDIER working for SHINRA, Sephiroth turns against his employer and everything around him after he learns the terrible truth behind the JENOVA project. As his hatred grows it is up to Cloud and his party to stop him before he attempts to destroy the world.

With over 18 points of articulation, this figure is highly poseable. Comes equipped with his katana “Masamune” and variant hands.

Paint Job: Though Sephiroth only possesses two main colors, black and shades of grey, they are still quite stunning. The level of contrast is depicted in a pleasing manner, alternating in parts of his costume and hair without looking too cheap. It looks natural yet poignant. The slightly different colors present on his face don’t overpower the overall color scheme and in fact add to it.

Sculpt: The sculpt is another impressive element on this figure. The hair alone is nearly floor-length and ornate in detail. You really get a sense of the hair flowing and curving around his body. The complex costume and graceful face also reflect the detailed sculpt and contrast nicely. Sometimes sculptors create an incredibly elaborate costume and muscles and pair it with an equally elaborate face, which can look a bit overdone. Sephiroth’s face is gracefully simple, yet strong enough to convey the character’s identity.

Durability: The figures are made of hard plastic and come with a sturdy base, so as long as you have them high up and out of the way of harmful furry things, then it’s going to last you a long time. I could see the joints becoming a bit loose in the future and losing balance if you misplace the base, however.

Poseability: Sephiroth’s articulation is insane on this figure. Play Arts is well known for its fantastic looking and working figures, this being no exception. The figure features at least 18 (!) different points of articulation. You can pretty much move any part on this figure, in any direction. Since it comes with a handful of nifty little accessories (note: mine are missing), the number of poses you have with Sephiroth is amazing. Definitely one of the best parts of this figure.

Accessories: This action figure comes loaded with accessories. Sephiroth comes equipped with his katana “Masamune” and many variant hands along with a very sturdy base. The packaging, as is always the case with Play Arts, is also something to write home about. I am pleased to report that I am satisfied with all the included accessories.

What’s Awesome: What’s NOT awesome about this figure? Besides the ridiculous amount of poseability and accessories, I’d say the most impressive feature is the detail and likeness in his clothes and hair. The costume is very elaborate and detailed. It’s utterly fantastic how Play Arts can capture the complexity of the character with such grace.

What Sucks: I can’t really say too much about it sucking. I’d say the only thing is that sometimes the extreme poseability can actually harm your experience (if you plan on, er, playing with them). Sometimes he falls into positions and bends at times when you just need for him to stand up. That’s…pretty much it.

Overall: Having been a long time fan and collector of Play Arts figures, Sephiroth was a nice little addition to my Final Fantasy figure shelf. All of their figures possess high detail, extreme poseability, nice packaging, and an abundance of accessories that more than warrant the usual $24.99 price tag. This Sephiroth figure exceeded my expectations and is quite admired among the rest of the Final Fantasy figures. I give it a 5/5.

3 Comments

It’s funny that you gave it such praise (and I praise mine, too), and say how amazing the figure is, and point out that it has almost no bad points. This was a GREAT figure line, before they started calling it KAI and doubled the price. I can’t afford them anymore. $25 was a perfect price for a great figure like this. I really don’t understand why, when the line was already super great, they had to screw with it and make them so expensive.
I’ve got a Balthier and Auron. They both look great, but unfortunately my Auron broke mysteriously. One of his shoulder joints is completely busted, and I have no idea how it got that way.